Hole reaming and straightening device



VHB @a nW33 J. .1. SANTIAGO v HLE REMING AND STRlGHTENING' DEVICE Filed Feb. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l In vez@ on James. J. 'anfzqyo.

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Feb 9 1932. J. J. SANTIAGO HOLE REAMING AND STRAIGHTENING DEVICE Filed Feb. 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnz/fzfpr'. Jane; 7. Sanfz da Patenteclfeb. 9, 1932 dUNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE "l''MlEF Il'. SNTXAGO, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 J' OHN GRANT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNILA HOLE REAMKNG AN D STRAIGHTENING DEVICE Application led February 24, 1930. Serial No. 430,811.

Flllhis invention has relation to devices for drilling and forming a straight drill hole, or for straightening a hole which has previously been drilled.

lln my prior application, Serial Number 414,072, tiled December 14, 1929, l have described a straight hole device which embodies a stitl tubular member surrounding a drill stem or drill pipe for some considerable length, and located on the' drill pipe near the drilling bit, and having associated with it a reamer or reamers tor rounding out the hole which has been drilled by the bit.

The present invention partakes of the general nature of my said previous invention, andv it is among the objects of the present invention to provide a structural form for the element which 1 generally designate as a guide tube, which structural form may, with slight variations or with interchange 01" parts, be used either as a guide tube, as an Aassociated reamer, or as a combined guide device and reamer. 'llhe accomplishment of these and other objects will be best understood from a consideration ot the following detailed and specific description of preferred and illustrative embodiments ot the invention, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which:

Figure l is an elevation showing the lower part of one assembly embodying myvinvention;

2 is a similar view showing the upper part ot such assembly;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail ont the upper part ot the guide tube device, the view being partially in elevation and partially in section, Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4--4 et Fig.. 3;

5 is an enlarged detail, partly in elevation` and partly in longitudinal section,

Referring first to the form of assembly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to the detail views of Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive; the drill pipe or drill stem is indicated at 10, an upper reamer is indicated at 11, the intermediate guide device is designated generally by the numeral 12, a lower reamer is shown generally at 13, and the drill bit is illustrated at 14. All these several elements are coupled together longitudinally, and preferably immediately adjacent each other, as is indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The lower end of the drill pipe proper, shown at 10, is coupled at 2O to the upper end of reamer 11. The lower end of this reamer 11 is coupled at 21 (see the upper part of Fig. 2 for the detail) to the upper end of the drill pipe section 22, which extends longitudinally through the guide device 12. At the lower end this section 22 of the drill pipe has a tool jointmember 23 directly coupled with the tool joint member 24 at the upper end of lower reamer 13, shown in detail in Fig. 5. And the lower end of this lower reamer 13 is coupled directly at 25 with the drill bit 14. lt will be understood that when the whole assembled device is being used for initial drilling ot a hole, the drill bit 14 performs the usual drilling-ollice, and the hole is drilled, kept straight, and reamed out round, in ay single operation. If a previously drilled hole is being reamed out and straightened, the drill bit 14 may not necessarily be used; or, if used, performs merely the function of an entering guide for the assembly, and of keeping circulating fluid stirred up below the reamers. Circulating tluidtis fed to the drill through the hollow drill pipe and through the hollow interiors of the reaming elements (shown typically in detail in Fig. 5) and through the drill pipe section 22 which extends through the length of guide-device 12.

Explaining lirst the preferred nature and structure of the guide device, I refer to Figs. 1 to 4. A longitudinal tube 30 surrounds the drill pipe section 22. 'llhis tube 30 is of a suitable'length so that its bearing shoes may obtain bearing on the hole wall through.

a considerable distanceha distance long' enough that the guide device, fitting the reamed hole rather snugly, must be aligned in very close accuracy with the axis of the hole in which it stands. A typical length of guide tube 30 is equal to one or more lengths of drill pipe- 20 feet or more. And this tube 5 30 is also heavy enough to be relatively stiff and unbending. Due to the fact that it is 0f greater diameter than the drill pipe, it is stiffer than the drill pipe even if its wall be no thicker than the wall of the drill pipe, and the wall of tube 30 may be even thicker than the wall of the drill pipe so as to obtain maximum stiffness.

Where the guide device is to have only a guiding function, as in the form of assembly and structure shown in Figs. l and 2, 1t 1s preferably rotatably mounted upon the dr1ll pipe, so that the guide tube need not rotate with the drill pipe but may stand relatively stationary in the hole. For this purpose the '20 guide tube rotates at its upper and lower ends upon roller bearings 31, which roll upon the drill pipe section 22. Totake care of end thrusts, end thrust ball bearings are provided, as indicated at 32. The bearingstructure is shown in detail in Fig. 3 for the upper end; the structure is the same at the lower end of the guide tube as is indicated 1n Fig. l. Guide tube is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally 30 extending rows of slots 33 in which are mounted the bearing shoes 34. As will be seen from an inspection of the drawings, these bearin shoes are arranged in longitudinal rows'. gIn Fig. 3 some of the tube slots 33 are shown without shoes mounted in them, for better showing of the slots. The upper portions of the shoes may have overhanging end extensions 34a which are of such length as to abut each other as illustrated; and such abutment adds to the general stiffness of the structure. On the other hand, these overhanging abutting ends are not necessary; and two shoes without such overhanging Vends are shownat 346 in Fig. 3. The outer parts of the shoes project beyond the outer surface of guide tube 30; and, the shoes being arranged in spaced' rows, the assembled formation is much like that of a fluted column, the rows of shoes forming the ribs and the spaces between the rows of shoes forming grooves. These longitudinal grooves, in the exterior surface of the assembled guide device, affordv longitudinal passages for the circulation fluid which flows upwardly around the whole terior passages to the drill bit at the lower end. And the spaces between adjacent ends of contact shoes in each longitudinal row (whether the spaces are afforded by the contact shoes having no overhanging ends, or are afforded by a. tapering of the overhanging ends as shown inthe drawings) afford cir` cumferential passages for the circulating fluid, so that the flow of circulating Huid 'upassembly, being forced down through the in-- wardly around the guide device may be equalized all around it. Y

Each shoe 34 has a shank 36 which fits in and extends through the tube slot and which is undercut at both sides with grooves 37, best shown in Fig. 4. To hold the shoes in to the tube 30, key strips 38 extend longitudinally inside tube 30 between rows of shoe Shanks and have their opposite edges entering the undercut grooves 37,. Each of these strips may preferably extend the whole length of guide tube 30; and the cross-sectional arrangement may best be seen from Fig. 4. The ends of these key strips may abut the confining rings 39, the upper one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 3. These rings 39 may be force-fitted into tube 30 and the rings thus serve to confine the key strips 38 longitudinally, while the key strips serve to space the rings 39. In the form now under discussion, where the guide device does not necessarily rotate with the drill pipe, the inner ends of shanks 36 `do not contact with the Vdrill pipe section 22.

The detailed structure of one of the reamers is shown in Fig. 5. Each reamer embodies an exterior tube 30a and an interior tube 22a. These tubes are screw-threaded at their ends, and both are screw-threadedly joined to the head or coupling members 41, as will bevunderstood from Fig. 5. T-he exterior tube 30a is provided with a circumferential row of longitudinally extending slots 33a, and the cutter blocks are mounted in these slots.l These cutter blocks, designated by the numeral 34a, are, in general formation, similar to the bearing shoes 34, and may carry cutting elements or cutting edges of any desired character. However, for most reaming purposes it is desirable to provide a roller cutter; and for the purpose of mounting such cutters the cutter blocks -are recessed on their exterior faces, as is inclicated at 43 in Fig. 5, and the blocks are also formed in two halves. The transverse division between the two halves is shown at 44 in Fig. 5. In the block recess 43 the roller cutter 45 is mounted on a spindle 46. The ends of this spindle are set in the opposite halves of the'cutter block; and one end of the spindle is bent and set at an angle in the cutter block, as is indicated at 46a in Fig. 5.`

ahead of the bearing shoes on the way down,

and the uppermost Set to ream ahead of the shoes on the way upward. .f i

Thus, as a further variation, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 the two middle sets of rollers a may be plain surfaced so asto obtain a smooth rolling contact with the hole wall and thus become guides rather than reamers. In such case the rollers may well be of such diameters that they do not project radially quite as far as the cutter rollers-so that the over-all diameter of the roller equipped guides is substantially the same as that of the bearing shoe guides. In using the rollers as the guide Contact members it may not, however, be so important to leave clearance, or So .much clearance, as with the shoe type. y

AS the above paragraphsl indicate, the structure which has been described is capable of varied uses by making substitutions. In any of the forms of assembly shown in the drawings, shoes, reamer cutters and bearing rollers may be substituted for one another; with various resulting assemblies of which those that have been described are illustrations.

I claim; l. In combination with a drill stem section, a tube concentrically surrounding the section and mounted thereon, said tube having Slots circumferentially spaced, wall contacting members mounted in the tube Slots, said mem bers having grooved Shanks projecting inwardly through the tube slots, and longitudinally extending keys within the tube and l arranged between adjacent rows of said members and engaging their grooved shanks.

2. In combination with an inner tubular member, an outer concentric tube, means interconnecting the two tubes at their ends and maintaining them in concentric annular spaced relation, the outer tube having a plurality of longitudinal rows of slots circumferentially spaced, bearing shoes mounted in some of said slots, and reaming cutters mounted in other slots.

3. In combination with an inner tubular member an outer concentrictube, means interconnecting the two tubes at their ends and maintaining them in concentric annular spaced relation, the outer tube having circumferentially spaced Slots, and contact members mounted in the slots, said members having Shanks projecting inwardly through the tube Slots, and longitudinally extending keys within the outer tube engaging said Shanks and holding them against inward radial movement4 relative to said outer tube.

4. In combination with an inner tubular member, an outer concentric tube, means interconnecting the two tubes at their ends and maintaining them in concentric annular spaced relation, the outer tube having circumferentially spaced slots, and contact members mounted in the slots, Said members having shanks projecting inwardly through the tube slots, and longitudinally extending keys within the outer tube engaging said Shanks, said cutters and shoes having Shanks projecting inwardly through the tube Slots, and longitudinally extending keys within the outer tube` taining them in concentric annularspaced' relation, the outer tube having circumferentially spaced Slots, and cutter carrying blocks mounted in the slots, said blocks having Shanks projecting inwardly through the tube slots, longitudinally extending keys within the outer tube engaging said shanks and locking said Shanks against inward and outward A movement through the slots.

6. In combination with a drill stem section, a tube surrounding the section and carried thereby, said tube having slots circumferentially spaced, wall contacting members 1 mounted lin the tube Slots, said members having Shanks projecting inwardly through the slots and said Shanks having longitudinally extending grooves on their sides, and longitudinally removable keys insidethe tube, each key between two adjacent Shanks and engaging the grooves in the two adjacent Shanks with its opposite longitudinal edges.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto'subscribed my namel this 31 day of January, 1930.

JAMES SANTIAGO. 

